Question

A medium-growth coniferous tree planted in an urban or suburban setting after being raised in a nursery for 1 year can sequester 10.5 Kg of CO₂ over a 10-year period of growth. If you lived in an average home in Australia, how many trees would you need to plant to remove the CO₂ you would produce from driving your car, using electricity in your home using natural gas heating for a period of 10 years?

In order to answer the question you may need to make use of the following data:

1. Average household energy use is 24 kWh per day.

2. 20% of household energy use is due to gas heating.

1. The calorific value of natural gas is 10 kWh/kg
2. Natural gas has specific carbon dioxide emissions of 0.2kgCO₂/kWh

3. The distance travelled by car per annum is 20,000 km

1. The car's fuel efficiency is 0.1 lt/km
2. The engine's efficiency is 20%.
3. The calorific value of petrol is 10 kWh/lt
4. Petrol has specific carbon dioxide emissions of 0.25 kgCO₂/kWh

4. Electricity if produced from coal

1. The power station and transmission efficiency is 35%
2. The  calorific value of coal is 8.4 kWh/kg
3. Coal  has specific carbon dioxide emissions of 0.34 kgCO₂/kWh

Answer 1